The new visa will allow for foreigners to work on Australian farms to help the agriculture sector improve its workforce, which was decimated by the closure of international borders during the pandemic.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said while the visa came into effect on October 1 last year, it required Foreign Minister Marise Payne to negotiate the agreements.
“One of which has made themselves publicly known, and that's Indonesia. So we're waiting on Marise Payne to complete that,” he said.
The National Party and National Farmers’ Federation were given a commitment there would be an ag visa as part of the UK free-trade agreement.
“That's something that we held out on in terms of UK free-trade agreement making sure we not only got better access but he we got an ag visa as part of it, that Marise Payne would complete this and she gave that commitment, she'd complete it very early in the new year,” Mr Littleproud said.
“So we're expecting that to be completed in the coming weeks. We've already put the pre-emptive work in, with approved employers and labour hire companies, to be able to move quickly as soon as a country signs up.”
Mr Littleproud said early completion was critical for agriculture, especially in Victoria.
“We made it very clear to her as the National Party this is an expectation that this ag visa is put in place and particularly as we move into a very big peak season in Victoria, those producers there are looking to be able to fill their labour supplies,” he said.
Mr Littleproud claimed the waters had been “muddied” by the Australian Workers’ Union.
“They've openly gone into these embassies and told these embassies not to allow their workers to come here because they will be exploited,” he said.
“That generalisation and demonisation of Australian farmers is disgraceful.”
AWU national secretary Daniel Walton told a Senate committee his union would not bow to demands from the Federal Government to cease speaking to ambassadors and the community about what he described as the dangers of the new agriculture visa and the culture of exploitation that existed within the farming industry.
Mr Walton said poor pay and conditions should not be justified on the basis of “labour shortages”.
“So far, all of the potential agriculture visa partners have seen right through this,” Mr Walton said.
“Legislation to establish the visa was passed in October, yet not one country has signed up to join the program.”
